1981 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1981 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was the sixth edition of the tournament, and was held March 6–7 at the Kibbie Dome at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.[1][2]

1981 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1980–81
Teams4
SiteKibbie Dome
Moscow, Idaho
ChampionsIdaho (1st title)
Winning coachDon Monson (1st title)
MVPKen Owens (Idaho)
1980–81 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Idaho †12–2 .857  25–4  .862
Montana11–3 .786  19–9  .679
Montana State11–3 .786  16–11  .593
Idaho State6–8 .429  12–14  .462
Nevada5–9 .357  11–15  .423
Weber State5–9 .357  8–19  .296
Boise State4–10 .286  7–19  .269
Northern Arizona2–12 .143  8–17  .320
† Conference tournament winner

Top-seeded Idaho defeated Montana in the championship game, 70–64, to clinch their first Big Sky men's basketball tournament.[3]

Format

First played in 1976, the Big Sky tournament had the same format for its first eight editions. The regular season champion hosted and only the top four teams from the standings took part, with seeding based on regular season conference records.

No new teams qualified for the Big Sky tournament this year. This was the first year in which three-time defending champion Weber State did not play in the title game; the Wildcats tied for fifth and failed to make the field.

Bracket
Semifinals
Friday, March 6 		Championship
Saturday, March 7
      
1 Idaho 69
4 Idaho State 45
1 Idaho 70
2 Montana 64
3 Montana State 64
2 Montana 85

Source:[3][4]

NCAA tournament

The Vandals (25–3) received an automatic bid to the 48-team NCAA Tournament, their first appearance, and were seeded seventh in the West region.[5] They lost to Pittsburgh by a point in overtime at El Paso, Texas.[6][7][8]

gollark: New nickname!
gollark: TJ09 works in mysterious ways.
gollark: You don't *look* pink.
gollark: Anyway, *person with a scroll name*, *I didn't give it to them*.
gollark: They seem to have deleted some of the messages they sent in it, unfortunately.

References
  1. Missildine, Harry (March 6, 1981). "Big Sky's big night". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 25.
  2. "1980-81 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  3. Sahlberg, Bert (March 10, 1981). "Vandals win it all over stubborn Grizzlies". Idaho Argonaut. (Moscow). (University of Idaho). p. 9.
  4. Van Sickel, Charlie (March 7, 1981). "Idaho battles potent Grizzlies". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 11.
  5. Missildine, Harry (March 9, 1981). "NCAA: Idaho draws Pitt". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 15.
  6. Missildine, Harry (March 13, 1981). "Idaho vs. Pitt: a guessing game". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 35.
  7. Missildine, Harry (March 14, 1981). "Vandals victimized in overtime". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 17.
  8. "'Prayer shot' ends Vandal NCAA dreams". Idaho Argonaut. (Moscow). (University of Idaho). March 24, 1981. p. 6.
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